This blog is affiliated with a course at the School of Journalism & Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. I'll try to use it to share relevant news and information with the class, and anyone else who's interested.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Netflix to split streaming, DVD services

Netflix has announced that it will be splitting its DVD rental side from the streaming portion of the business.

In a few weeks, the DVD-by-mail service will be rebranded as "Qwikster" (supposedly to emphasize the quick delivery system), and add a video games upgrade option similar to its current Bluray disc upgrade. The press announcement indicated that there are plans for continued service improvements on the rental side. Netflix will remain as the name of the streaming service.

The split will lead to separate websites for the two services, and separate billing, although the announcement indicates that subscribers to both will find that the two charges will be no higher than their current subscription prices (at least for now).